Eccles Cakes | Rough Puff Pastry | Recipe | Gig House Kitchen
Crispy, crumbly, flaky rough puff pastry wrapped around chewy, sweet and spicy currants…
Eccles cakes are a delicious crumbly pastry filled with spicy currants that were invented in the 17th Century and hail from the Northern British region of Lancashire. A fruity, slightly boozy and delightfully chewy treat popular with the whole family.
For these Eccles cakes we will be using Rough Puff Pastry, which is another variant on the traditional Puff Pastry, which is slightly easier to make for less experienced cooks, while yielding very similar results.
It’s also great if you’re a little shorter on time. A great skill to master and extremely delicious too.
Though the recipe below is not considered a “true” eccles cake, we are confident this tasty variation will appeal to even the fussiest pastry connoisseur.
For anyone looking for a great afternoon snack, a lunch box filler, or just something sweet to enjoy with a cup of tea, then this is the recipe for you.
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What you need for this recipe
- Mixing bowl (metal or glass is fine)*
- Rolling pin*
- Large Pallet knife (not essential, but helpful)*
- Round-bladed knife
- Pastry brush (not essential, but helpful)*
- Baking tray*
- Wooden spoon*
- A tablespoon
- Large saucepan*
- Digital kitchen scales*
You will also need a variety of plates, small bowls, and cutlery on hand for this recipe to weigh ingredients into, portion spices, etc.
Watch the video
Ingredients
Rough Puff (doubled):
- 250g (9 oz) — Strong White Flour (bread)
- 1 lvl tsp — Salt
- 1 tsp — Lemon juice
- 150ml — Iced water
- 150g (5 oz) — Cubed butter (frozen)
- (Plus Sugar for sprinkling)
Filling:
- 150g (5oz) — Currants (we used 200g in recipe)
- 50g (2oz) — Mixed peel (omitted from video)
- 40g (1.5oz) — Soft Brown Sugar
- 50g (2oz) — Butter
- Zest & Juice of half a medium orange
- Half tsp — All Spice
- Half tsp — Ground Nutmeg
- 1 Tbs — Dark Rum (or Brandy or Whiskey)
Pre-heat oven to 200°C / 392°F / Gas Mark 6
Method
Rough Puff
- Place strong flour and salt to a mixing bowl, then add the frozen cubed butter and stir together with a round-bladed knife
- Pour in all 150ml water and lemon juice and stir together using the round-bladed knife (it might seem sticky but this will go away after first rolling)
- Once combined, pour dough onto a floured work surface, making sure to scrape out the bowl, and shape the dough into a small, fat rectangle
- Using a well-floured rolling pin, carefully roll the pastry carefully until it is about 1/2 the length of your rolling pin, keeping the sides straight and uniform. (A jerking motion works best, rather than a straight back and forward with the rolling pin)
- Give the dough a 1/4 turn, making sure to re-flour the work surface to avoid sticking (if the pastry sticks, run a floured pallet knife under the dough to move it aside, then re-flour the worktop before continuing).
- Working quickly so the butter doesn’t melt, continue to roll the pastry until you have a rectangle about the length of your rolling pin and 1/2 your rolling pin wide (approx. 1cm in thickness) keeping the edges straight and uniform as you go.
- Next, wipe any excess flour off the top of the pastry and then fold the bottom 1/3 up and the top 1/3 down over the middle 1/3 of your dough (letter fold)
- Use the rolling pin to squash the edges together gently to trap the air inside, try to keep the edges as straight as possible. This is the first rolling (lamination) complete.
- Place the pastry on a floured plate, cover with cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes (use this time to clear down the worktop and rolling pin to help prevent sticking on next rolling).
- Once the pastry is chilled, re-flour your worktop and rolling pin, gently place pastry onto the worktop, and roll it for a second time using the same process as above (make a rectangle 1 x 0.5 rolling pin length and approx. 1cm thick).
- Letter fold (laminate) the dough by folding the top and bottom 1/3s over the centre, pinch down the edges (as before).
- Return the pastry to the floured plated, cover with cling film, and return to the fridge to chill for another 20 minutes.
- Once chilled, follow the above process one lats time (make a rectangle 1 x 0.5 rolling pin length and approx. 1cm thick), and then return to the fridge (on a floured plate and covered with cling film) to rest for a minimum of 1 hour.
Fruit Filling
- Place the filling ingredients into a large saucepan, including spices
- Warm on the hob on a medium low heat until the currants are plump, the mix becomes sticky, and the spices are fragrant
- Put the mixture in a bowl and allow it to cool for at least 2 hours before assembling the Eccles cakes.
Eccles cakes
- When you’re ready to assemble, pre-heat your oven to the desired temperature (200°C / 392°F / Gas Mark 6)
- Remove your pastry from the fridge and cut it in half, wrapping one half in cling film, which can be placed in the freezer or fridge for future use (remember this is a double recipe, if you want a single serving, half the original ingredients for the pastry)
- Flour the worktop and rolling pin and roll your pastry half out into a rectangle that is once again 1 x 0.5 rolling pin length and approx. 1cm thick
- Cut the dough into 9 equal squares and then roll each square to around 0.5cm thickness, making sure the edges of the pastry are thin, but careful they don’t stick to your worktop.
- Then, using your index finger, run cold water around the edge of one of the squares and place 1/9 of the Eccles cake filling into the centre of the pastry square.
- Pull the edges of the pastry up over the filling and layer them over one another to seal them together.
- Turn the Eccles cake over so that the sealed side is on the worktop and use the rolling pin to flatten it into a disk (approx 1.5cm thick), so that the currants are just visible through the pastry. Make sure to pat the sides to keep them rounded and even.
- Once all of the Eccles cakes are filled like this, place them onto a lined and greased baking tray equally spaced apart
- Using a sharp knife score 3 short slits (approx. 2cm) into the top of each Eccles cake to allow steam to vent while they cook.
- Using a pastry brush, wash the Eccles cakes with egg white or water, then sprinkle them with granulated sugar.
- Bake in the oven 20–25 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Once they’re cooked, allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. Eccles cakes are best served cold.
Final comments
Both the filling and pastry can be made far in advance and allowed to chill in the fridge or freezer until needed. Eccles cakes will last for 1–2 weeks in a sealed container stored in a cool, dry place.
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